The holidays are in the air and it is my favorite time of year. When watching this trailer in the theatres before a movie, I did not know who Will Ferrell was at the time because I was young and I did not watch Saturday Night Live as much of the time but I dug the trailer. The truth is that while my family rented the movie for the first time, I was a bit skeptical as to how my expectations will be met after finishing the movie.
Statistically, while researching Christmas films, not many movies get more positive reviews than negative reviews because most critics will know the outcome of one of those holiday-genre films: everybody gets jolly and merry and now becomes one big, happy family. But, from the way I look at these Christmas films, it's all about these journeys to these festive conclusions. From this movie's plot, the movie has a free-spirited and humorous journey that will leave you with a grin on your face after this is over. And, it is no question, it is one of my favorite Christmas films and it is also a rewatchable movie to watch.
Back in 1973 on Christmas Eve, an orphaned infant boy stows away in Santa Claus' (Ed Asner) sack of gifts while he is chewing on his cookies and drinking milk. When the baby is discovered at the North Pole, the elves name him Buddy because of the diapers brand and Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) decides to raise him. Buddy (Will Ferrell) grows up as a human believing he is an elf, taking Elf classes and helping Papa Elf with some chores, but one day, after a bad day at work, he accidentally overhears a couple of elves saying that he is human.
Papa Elf explains to him that he is the son of Walter Hobbs (James Caan), who is a selfish children's book publisher in New York City, and Susan Wells, who has died. So, Buddy travels to find him and he has trouble being accustomed to the human culture in New York City. Buddy finds the Empire State Building where Walter works and when he finds his father, he tells Walter that Susan Wells had him and he is escorted out of the building.
Buddy goes to Gimbel's and he is mistakenly noticed as an employee by his "boss" (Faizon Love) as the employees were elf attire at the children's section of the store. Buddy meets a distant employee named Jovie (Zooey Deschanel) who solely wants to get through the holidays. And, once he knows that Santa is coming, Buddy stays at Gimbel's overnight to decorate the section like he is some "corporate professional". When Buddy discovers the next day that the "Santa" is a fake, they get into a fight and Buddy is sent to prison. Walter is called by the police and he bails Buddy out. They both go to a pediatrician to get a DNA test and Walter finds out that Buddy is his son. The doctor (cameoed by Jon Favreau) insists that Walter take Buddy to meet his step-mother, Emily (Mary Steenburgen) and their son, Michael (Daniel Tay), to be fully nurtured.
There's not much theme as there are lessons in a light Christmas comedy like this movie because this movie get you into the story about Buddy connecting with his father. But, also the movie will get infused with the "Christmas cheer" that Buddy says to Jovie so everybody can have that same spirit and will spread it everyone. It is a word-of-mouth tactic. However, Buddy is sort of a symbol of motivation and happiness because he is the person to encourage you to be more cheerful even if you are not. Also, Buddy has to be himself even though his father and even his step-brother helps him to become more human. He does become more human to a degree but he cannot help to become like an elf. He wants to stay true to himself.
The movie's main theme is perseverance because Buddy travels through "the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops and then he walked through the Lincoln tunnel". He overcomes some of the challenges in the film by traveling far but also is put down by some people and Buddy tries his best to get people in the spirit, especially helping Santa out in the climactic sequence in which Buddy helps him to get the engine back on-line but also the alternative is that Christmas spirit has to be full-on for the sleigh on and Jovie encourages everyone to sing along. My only flaw with that sequence is it only New York that is spreading Christmas cheer. The Earth is big, you know.
This movie will definitely get you in the holiday spirit because of Jon Favreau's main storyline arc and Will Ferrell's performance. His performance in this movie is what got me on board with his movies because now, I am a fan of his humor: whether it is the children's movie like this one or like the raunchier ones like Old School or ripping off the buddy-cop formula like The Other Guys. It was weird, at times, for James Caan interacting with Ferrell in a couple of scenes. (One brief moment which I felt like that we were back in The Godfather because Caan played Sonny Corleone.) However, I was very surprised in its initial screening and I have grown to like it a lot more since then. It is hard to not appreciate the great holiday spirit from the experience of watching the movie again.
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